Scott Walker Plans to Approve NBA Arena With $250 Million in Taxpayer Money

[jpak]

Source: Newsweek

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, a high-profile Republican presidential candidate, plans to sign a bill approving the construction of a new NBA basketball arena for the Milwaukee Bucks, according to an ESPN report earlier this week. The catch: The stadium will use $250 million in taxpayers’ money. The law was passed by Wisconsin lawmakers on July 28, with votes in favor from both political parties, the report said.

In the past, Walker has come out strong on the record against tax increases. Speaking at a New Hampshire rally in March, he was quoted saying, “I think putting more money back in the hands of the hardworking taxpayers, which is your money to begin with, is a much better way to grow the economy than through government so-called stimulus, which has a much lower rate of return than it does if you and other job creators have that money out there.”

If you tuned into Thursday night’s GOP presidential debate, you may have heard candidates like Mike Huckabee and Chris Christie touching on the issues of fair taxation and Social Security. Tax rates, entitlements and their relationship to economic growth are a perennial topic during election cycles, especially for the GOP. Walker has said that the new arena will not lead to “new taxes” and defends it as a way to “protect an existing revenue stream [the NBA franchise] and not add a new state liability for state government.”

That’s a hard message for many sports fans when it comes to team ownership. In 2014, ESPN reported that hedge fund owners Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry had bought the team for $550 million. The price tag shocked commentators, partially because the Bucks have been a fringe playoff team for most of the 2000s, and partially because the NBA experienced a lockout in 2011. During the work stoppage, owners across the league claimed that team revenues and franchise values were plummeting.

<more>

Read more: http://www.newsweek.com/scott-walker-plans-approve-nba-arena-250-million-taxpayer-money-360804

[HassleCat]

1. The boredom tax

Pro basketball has to be the most boring major sport. They sleepwalk through most of the game, then turn on the heat for the last ten minutes. Why not just shorten the game to ten minutes? If the taxpayers shell out that kind of money, they should own part of the team, just like the Green Bay Packers are publicly owned.

[Frank Cannon]

11. Basketball is a tennis game with a bigger ball.

When a game is played to 104-100, and each scoring opportunity is between one and three points, I really question whether one team really played the game better than the other. Why not flip a coin and determine the winner? That happens in basketball all the time.

Football and baseball games move slower, but there is a tremendous amount of strategy involved in them that impact the outcomes of the games. But I confess that I'm a football fan, so I'm biased.

[cp]

2. While cutting the University of Wisconsin by $250 million

[Sunlei]

3. Scottie should make his hedge fund buddies, pay for their own new building.

2014- hedge fund owners Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry had bought the team for $550 million

[Jack Rabbit]

4. How many new schools would that build

Oh, I forgot. The peons don't need to be educated because there are no jobs for them anyway.

[rladdi]

5. Gov. Walker is driven by the Koch brothers, I don't think he really has any agenda, other

then what the Koch brothers have for him. He is really weak, but the state voters seems to like him.

[turbinetree]

6. Taxes..............................

someone in the state should file a lawsuit against this twit and anyone else that supported this scheme.
He's bankrupting the entire state and closing down everything-----------and then blaming everyone in the state for his faliures, its like no one can see the forest from the trees in the state.
And to have the "hedge fund" investors pay for this scheme-------------paying peter and robbing paul------------way to go Wisconsin, your state is close to dead last in everything--------------even with the Nixonite on stage last night bragging about his accomplishments------------which was more BS and more hate and fear---------------just like Nixon.

John Nichols, got it right in the latest edition of the Nation magazine on Walker------------------very much on the mark.


This is why I support the Green Packers-----------------they are owned by the individual shareholders of the town and there fans------they are a public entity from day one , none of this tax break scheme that that the hedge fund will reap and how walker is bought off again in his continuation of corruption and all that supported this "deal"

[Angry Dragon]

9. Walker the Kock weasel

[turbinetree]

10. yes ---------------he is, very much like one................

no morality, principles, nothing---------just what's in it for him----nothing else-------who can buy me should be his motto

[Angry Dragon]

7. the republicans love corporate welfare ............

not so much for living people

[Munificence]

21. hahahha

have you been asleep for the past 7 years? Corporate welfare is rampant....and here is a clue, it's not just a republican problem.

[Turbineguy]

8. That and a few bakeries

and we are set for the collapse of the empire!

[dembotoz]

12. I support the new arena

With the openly Jim Crow antics of Walker's state gov it was nice to see Milwaukee actually get something.
If scummy was not running, the bucks would b packing

[elzenmahn]

14. You may support the new arena...

...but at what cost? And who is footing the bill? The BUCKS? The NBA?

Look at what he cut from the U of W. And from education and other programs in that state. That's who is really paying for that new arena.

And what rewards will YOU be getting for that shiny new arena? Free or Discounted Bucks Tickets? (Insert studio audience laugh here.) Tax Breaks? Discounts to events at that new arena? Really?

And who is really benefiting from this? Multi-Millionaire owners. The NBA itself. Your only benefit is another opportunity to spend your money.

I don't mean to sound like Debbie Downer here. But sports teams are BUSINESSES, whose purpose is profit UBER ALLES. New arenas often mean that profit is being made on YOUR BACK, as a taxpayer. You deserve more for what you're being asked to do.

[HereSince1628]

16. We all love to hate Walker, but the arena had support of local democrats, too.

And, many of the tea-party legislators outside the Milwaukee area were actually opposed to taxpayer support for the deal, in the very traditional pattern of non-Milwaukee WI vs Milwaukee. People in the region aren't real happy with how the Brewers Stadium was funded by an increase in sales tax across 5 counties.

So this thing is not really simply about Scott Walker, although his campaign funds did get a big boost from the Ricketts, who own the Chicago Cubs which has been suggested by some to be a quid pro quo...

The Democratic resistance to the arena that existed locally was about how money from the County and City would be raised for the project and how, downstream, resulting jobs and revenue would be distributed to people living -in- the city. The DINO county exec wanted to do foreclosures of property to recover overdue uncollected monies.

[elzenmahn]

17. The bipartisan nature of this...

...makes it even more troubling, in my view.

BTW, just to clarify - I'm not against new arenas or sports venues outright. I just believe that those that actually use them to make a profit - the leagues and teams - should invest more of their own cash in funding them.

[HereSince1628]

19. I also oppose taxpayer support for these things...

And I oppose Walker as president. I've watched him in Wisconsin and he's a double-load of W-Bush...a person with not too many ideas of his own who gets pwned by the stronger wills and stronger arms in his own party and administration.

I want to help people who want to argue against Walker to use strong effective arguments against him.

Unfortunately, although there is nothing wrong with opposing taxpayer funded sports venues, the Milw arena is actually not a very effective argument against Walker as it did get bipartisan support.

[Zynx]

23. People kind of tune out the bipartisan label on these things.

It was motivated by people who were terrified of being labeled as having lost the Bucks.

The simple truth is that this is a moronic use of public support. Milwaukee has lost more major employers than I can count and I don't recall us stepping in with a quarter billion for each one. This is especially egregious when the players don't actually live in Milwaukee. At least with the other employers they stick around and support the community on a continuing basis economically, raising families and supporting local businesses. All we get is a small slug of tax revenue that is a rounding error in the grand scheme of things.

I can think of few things less efficient than supporting a sports franchise.

[Stuart G]

24. "The simple truth is that this is a moronic use of public support."...well said...thanks...nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

18. But at least Democrats accept that government spending can help the economy

whether it first benefits the average person, or first benefits someone rich. Republicans argue that government spending that goes to normal people is bad, but that government spending that goes to their donors is magically OK, because it touches Rich People first.

[elzenmahn]

13. Oh, and uh...

....how much did this a$$hole cut from the education budget and the budget of the University of Wisconsin?

That figure looks awfully familiar, doesn't it?

GOTV!!! This turd needs to be FLUSHED!!!!!

[appalachiablue]

15. No funding for schools, universities, profs & teachers who are leaving the state, but this

plus Jim Crow, tax cuts for Wisconsin millionaires and more. Got it. No way Scotty.

[wordpix]

20. we had a Stop the Stadium movement in CT when the Patriots' owner

called on us taxpayers to build him a new football stadium. We shot it down with petitions and financial analysis showing it would not benefit many people in the state.

And for Walker to say it's not a new state liability is BS. Of course it is. It will cost million$ to build and more millions to maintain.

[olddad56]

22. The mayor of Sacramento, a former NBA player no less, put a burden that big on the taxpayers...

of just the city of Sacramento.